Pikeville, KY – The University of Pikeville men's basketball team dropped their contest Thursday night at home to the University of Tennessee Southern, 80-65. The Firehawks shot an even 50% from the field in the game, including 14 three-pointers.

Jacob Brown continued his impressive stretch of play over the past few games with 17 points on 7-8 shooting while Taevon Horton added 14. Brown also led the team with six rebounds while Jordan Perry and Kenyon Duling led with three assists apiece.

The Bears fall to 12-4 after the loss and 5-3 in the Mid-South Conference. They will be right back in action on Saturday afternoon when they host Life University.

How It Happened
UPIKE jumped out to a quick 10-3 lead before UT Southern began to get settled in the game. They used a 13-2 run to take a 16-12 lead with just under 11 minutes to play in the first half. Kavion Hancock led the charge with eight points, and he would finish with a game-high 22 points.

The Firehawks would continue to build on their lead from this point forward, leading by as many as 13 points in the first half while taking a 38-29 lead into the break. UPIKE used two quick threes from Maurice Dickson and Horton at the end of the half to cut into the lead.

UT Southern would hold a steady advantage throughout the second half, but the Bears would begin to chip away at the lead with just over 13 minutes to play. They used a 7-2 flurry to make the score 53-46 with 11:14 remaining. Horton had three points during this stretch.

Unfortunately for UPIKE, this was as close as they would get as the Firehawks would jump right back out to a 14-point advantage and would never look back in their 80-65 victory.

What's Up Next
As mentioned, UPIKE will be right back on the court at the Appalachian Wireless Arena on Saturday afternoon to host the Life University Running Eagles at 4:00 p.m.

The last time these teams met was on Dec. 2 in Marietta, Georgia where the Bears won 83-71. Darius Love and Korbin Spencer both had 16 points in that game. UPIKE has won eight of the last 10 games in the overall series.